Petition: Let Basic Account's Own Land!

Actually the argument would probably be better supported if it was "remove premium account fees so that paying members only pay land tier" - which amounts to the same thing.

Lewis

Then why even dicuss it?

512m will cost you 5USD a month in teir. A Premium Account gives you 512m tier-free plus (as of today) 300L$ a week. Discounts are given if accounts are pre-paid for longer periods (1 year costs 72USD).

The differences in prices are minor. Just as feasible to pay the Premium Acount fee and own land as is set undet the current system.

In addition, hints in LL are that with the dropping of the weekly stipends, new incentives will be given to Premium Accounts. I would hypothonise that this will entail the allotment of more land tier-free. I would say up to 1024m, as this is a cost of 10USD.

Lastly, if a person is watching thier budget so tightly they can not afford a Premium Account fee, then they are money ahead to Rent. Far cheeper with less redtape to deal with.

~Jessy

It's a fact that most new unverified players have less of a stake in the game than long term paying players. A player with no land doesn't care about a house or making stuff to sell, they only want to look good, with the latest fashions and accessories on.

As a result, their presence in-world is based around going to stores, and places where they are likely to get money - camping chairs, money trees, casinos, clubs running "best in" competitions etc.

Someone who has been here a while and is looking for something different and fun to do may well decide to drop by and have a play on my miniature railroad, but someone whose focus is on "must get those new shoes" won't have time for such distractions.

Lewis

Quite. At the end of the day we all do pay LL directly or indirectly for land or participation in the economy whatever their payment/tiering strategy is which, assuming it's optimised for profitability, retention & growth, is an exercise in presentation.

I'm really not sure whether your argument is with unverifieds or human nature. If people like sex and shopping, whether they're old or new, verified or unverified, then that's what they'll do, however much you'd like them to ride your train.

I'm with Jessica... just reframe your viewpoint and you have what you want. The $10 USD that a premium account costs is really your tier for 512sqm of land. So there, if you don't have a problem paying tier, then you're happy now, right? Right.

You seem to agree that land and land usage shouldn't be free, so a premium account fee shouldn't bother you. If it still does, you need to take a hard looka t what you're asking for, because it simply doesn't make sense.

Agreed that paying money gives generally gives you a bit more stake in something. But if they are paying tier, as a result of letting basic accounts own land, wouldn't that mean they would be buying some sort of stake?

Your description is a general one of a new resident without land (and I'm not sure all would fit that mould). That is, they want make their avatar look good, and are beginning their exploration of SL starting with the most immediate things. If they allowed basic accounts to own land, at some point that new basic resident will become a long-term basic resident, who may well branch out as you described. They would also need to be verified, because something has to back that tier they're accumulating in something more solid than L$.

It's possible to speculate that by removing some barriers to land ownership, like the premium account fee, you may end up with more people with a stake in SL.

I see the difference as psychological largely. Rationally, it will pan out about the same if you paid your tier and bought some L$ without being premium. Consumers don't always act rationally though, and it's two decisions they have to make - do I want to pay for land and do I want to pay a premium fee? It's easier to get someone to make one decision rather than two.

Choices are always good as well. You may well not want to purchase L$, via a stipend or the Lindex, or maybe only when you need it, not automatically via premium. You would have more flexibility in how you choose to buy in. Maybe you'd rather not have a stipend, but would like 1024 instead?

First and foremost you have to remember that you CAN'T put economic considerations aside. Servers cost money, coding costs money... I don't work for free and I don't expect the Lindens to.

You are also wrong to call the member system "biased". Everyone is free to have whatever account they are willing to pay for, and all accounts at the same tier have the same abilities and use of the same tools.

Here's another problem you may not be considering: say free accounts can own land. What's to stop someone from making alts all day, buying 512 m2 of "first land" and then selling it their main AV for a buck?

I think your heart is in the right place, but it's just a bad idea.

It is probably safe to assume that free accounts consume a majority of server power, network bandwidth, and support resources.

These free avatars don't (for the most part) add to the "user created" infrastructure that made Second Life what it had become in it's first years, and also don't add significant new money into the economy by purchasing manufactured goods from the established vendors.

The ratio of customers-to-shops is now highly skewed. There are too many suppliers chasing too few paying customers, and now some of those avatars demand even more, for free.

Troublesome underage players infest the adult grid, with little enforcement of the terms of service and we have the unverified griefer problem that has been hurting us all.

Why does this continue and our requests fall on deaf Linden ears?

I believe that the reason that Linden Lab has opened up free accounts is only so the number of "Total Residents" grows past one million. This appears to be the primary goal of Linden management, in order to make the company attractive for acquisition, so that the founders can cash out.

That is why we see a change in attitude of some support Lindens towards the user community. There are three classes of inhabitants in this world; those that will benefit from selling the company, those well meaning newer hires responsible for keeping things running long enough to make that happen, and us, the subscribers to the SL service

The subscribers are now looked at as livestock. A necessary overhead that are being fattened up to be brought to market at some future time. Because of this, there is a tangible animosity growing between these three groups.

Something shifted in this past year that longer term residents have noticed.

The true product that Linden Lab is selling is Second Life itself and *not* those things that many of us pay for each month; server access and services, account fees, tier, etc.

Without keeping in mind what the true product is that Linden Lab is selling, discussions such as in this thread are interesting, but non-productive.

Why else would things be going the way they are? Rushed buggy code and virtually no improvements in the application unless they specifically address handling increased user count. Granted, there are a few inspired developers that work for LL that give us things like flexi-prims, but these types of improvements are much more infrequent. The look of SL and it's feature set has stagnated in the past 18 months.

But a lot of us here are dreamers. That's why we came. That's why we stay.

We have a vision and a faith that is sadly no longer shared by Philip Rosedale and his immediates.

Even though beautiful and inspired work here is now rare, and finding the gutter is never more than a few hundred meters away, we'll keep on believing in and building that dream world, until it fades into memories past.

--

totally agree with you on this, we pay to own. the word basic says it all.
this thread should be closed...shakes head.

While I agree on the ideal, it's the reality (or virtual reality) that we need to look at.

In real life, you can rent or own your home. If you rent, you ahve options of wether you are paying the utilities or wether they are included in the cost of the rent. If you own, you pay your morgage, then utilities, then taxes, upkeep, repairs, etc.

Think of us all as renting from LL. Basics have a lower cost (renting land IS cheeper than paying tier), but they do not pay any utilities (ie tier for maintence and certain privlages with the land that only an landowner can use). Premiums have thier utilities included in thier price. They pay a higher fee for less restrctions. (Landowners can add to ban lists, for example. Real life renters with utilities included are usually restricted to remain below a certain amount of electicity, water, etc).

More than change the system (which works), I'd say it's better to educate those new to SL and to the way land rental/ownership works, and as to what Basic and Premium Accounts really mean.

The differences are really only a matter of what's best for the individual. No one account is better than the other. More choices -might- be better, however, they -might- jsut add more confusion.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

~Jessy

As well as existing unverified accounts.

Hey Tamii, quit posting and get back up on the bar!

Get a credit card.

OK instead of calling it Premium Account, consider it the first level tier with some L$ thrown into the deal as a bonus

Well, there have been 4 signatures in a month. I don't think it might pass, even if LL used online petitions as a basis for changing the tier structure

Amen.

It's going to wind up this way anyway, they are taking away the incentives to sign up for premium in increments. The stipend has gone from 500 to 300 Linden for new sign ups. Pretty soon they will probably be gone altogether.

If they think they can make more money with basics buying land than from premium accounts, fine. But I wonder if they will. A lot of premium accounts don't even own land, not linden land. New premiums often buy then sell their first land and wind up moving into a private sim, and LL doesn't get the tier, except from the sim owner. After I sold mine I rented for quite a while. And they are already threatening to raise the mainland tier. How many basics are going to buy land at even more of a cost? I dunno.

Not really sure what the whole point of this thread was. You don't need to be verified to go premium, if you earn your money in world, sell L$ and pay for tier that way. *very confused*

<< Let Basic Account's Own Land! >>

No, lets not!! Most of the problems we are struggling with in SL are contributed to by all the free loaders who want to play the game without supporting it in anyway.

Support SL, become a paying member.

Well, you do have to be verified to be premium, how else would you pay LL, heh? The poster wasn't referring to non-verifieds but to verified basics, I imagine, who don't pay the $9.95 a month. Right now, you have to be premium and paying that monthly fee to own Linden land.

You missed the "sell L$" part of my post . The first post starts on the premise that no matter how much L$ a basic has, they can't own land (go premium).

If you own land, you have to pay tier. If you pay tier, you are supporting it. Premium fees are not keeping the lights on, tier is.